CITY BURIALS

The trend of extreme and progressive metal acts abandoning or taming their heavier impulses or more progressive ambitions for the sake of listenability is well established. When done tastefully, the progressive metal community is generally receptive. The spirit of prog, and even metal to an extent, demands continuous evolution. And prog fans are, or at least should be, wiling to accept when artists have made changes in their artistic direction.

No band has done this more tastefully than Katatonia having basically abandoned their early extreme doom metal roots for a more prog infused alternative metal sound. With City Burials, the group seems to distill their alternative sound even further' perhaps too much.

Unfortunately, City Burials merely retreads over the same territory already covered in previous releases all while stripping it of any novelty that could have possibly crept in. Jonas Renkse's attractive vocals are front and center but they fail to produce memorable hooks. The backing to Renske's vocals, despite multiple dense and cleanly produced layers of sound and instrumentation, don't seem to amount to all that much. As a listener, I can't help but feel lost in its monotony. In a word, this record is boring.